They were faces he’d seen often during knight training, but after everyone returned to their respective positions, they simply couldn’t find time to meet.

Luden visited the Crown Prince’s palace to meet Reytan, who had sent an invitation after a long time. When he entered the office, he could see Reytan sitting in a chair, processing the documents piled on his desk.

Reytan spotted Luden and quickly waved his hand.

“It’s been so long!”

“Have you been well? Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“We’re in private, so call me Reytan.”

“Understood, Your Highness Reytan.”

Luden smiled and waited for Reytan to stand up. Reytan signed the last document and walked over to sit on the sofa.

“Luden, sit down too.”

When Luden sat on the opposite sofa, Reytan had a servant bring tea.

“Luden, can you help me with something?”

“If it’s something I can help with.”

“I’m marrying Laysia.”

Even while on the battlefield, Reytan never stopped courting Laysia. He truly loved her. So naturally, Luden knew it would lead to marriage, and sure enough.

“The imperial family will prepare the wedding ceremony. But when my mother was a concubine, her family didn’t help much. Partly because they thought Mother wasn’t receiving Father’s favor, so they didn’t contact us often. When I became Crown Prince, I blocked them first when they slowly tried to approach. I told Father I’d send wedding invitations to my maternal family but wouldn’t meet them personally.”

Luden understood why Reytan was explaining at such length.

“But these people will probably try to approach me on the wedding day. On the wedding day, Luden, stay with me, and Annelia, stay with Laysia.”

It was to keep Luden and Annelia nearby and block useless people from approaching. At Reytan’s words, Luden nodded.

“I’m asking you.”

Luden and Annelia were practically newlyweds. So asking them to spend time apart felt wrong. But there was no one else to ask besides Luden. And Annelia seemed like she would help Laysia.

“I’ll gladly do it.”

It wasn’t really that difficult anyway.

“By the way, the wedding dress Annelia wore was so beautiful—where did you get it?”

“Didn’t people tell you?”

“They did, but I want to know more precisely.”

Perhaps this was the real reason he’d called him.

Luden didn’t refuse and told Reytan in detail about the vendors he and Annelia had chosen.

Reytan obtained the information and was very satisfied.

* * *

Evening came and I glanced at the front door. Luden, who had gone to the imperial palace, left word that he’d have dinner at home, so Anan and I sat on the sofa near the front door, reading books and passing time.

I hope Luden comes soon.

I’m starting to get hungry.

“Luden is a bit late.”

Anan looked at the clock and said that. She seemed hungry too.

Just as I was thinking that, the door opened and Luden entered.

“Luden, you’re here?”

I quickly closed my book and approached Luden, pulling him into a hug. Luden wasn’t flustered at all by my greeting. It was always like this.

“I’m a bit late.”

Luden hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek. Then, holding my hand, he walked to Anan and bowed his head.

“I’m back.”

“You’re a bit late.”

“My conversation with His Highness Reytan ran long.”

“What did you talk about?”

“We talked about the wedding.”

His Highness Reytan told Luden too.

“Ah, I need to pick out a gift for Laysia anyway.”

“What did you decide on for the gift?”

“She wants tea.”

At the mention of tea, Luden laughed quietly. That made sense—since I used tea often, the mansion had plenty of high-quality tea. There were even a few limited editions that were hard to obtain.

“We should give her something precious.”

“Right.”

“Let’s pick it out together after dinner.”

I nodded and walked to the dining room with Anan. As we entered the dining room, the maids brought food right away, seemingly having waited for us.

After finishing our meal, Luden and I walked to the room where we kept tea.

“His Highness Reytan seemed to like the clothes we wore at the wedding.”

“Calling Luden was probably to find out about that.”

The clothes Luden wore were truly magnificent. They suited him well, and the place I went to had good clothes too.

“He wants to have a meal before the wedding. He said he’d treat you especially well, Annelia.”

“Oh my, I’m looking forward to it.”

If it’s Reytan, he’ll treat us without going overboard. Still, I was looking forward to it.

Luden and I opened the door and entered the room. Inside were all the teas distributed by the Charlot family. As I looked around, I spotted tea in a pink box.

It was tea mainly given to people getting married. When brewed, it had an exquisite sweet taste, and it was one of the teas brides definitely wanted to receive. 

There was a superstition that if you received this tea, you’d have a happy married life, which made it even more popular. But it was a limited edition, so it was really hard to obtain.

“Shall we go with this?”

When I picked out the tea, Luden tilted his head and asked.

“Drinking this tea supposedly makes you happy—don’t you find it wasteful?”

“I’m happy right now anyway.”

Luden made an expression like he’d been caught off guard.

“I’m fine without something like this.”

Saying that, I took out the tea in the pink box. Laysia was probably happy now, but I packed the tea hoping she’d continue to be happy after marriage too.

After picking out a few more, Luden and I returned to our room.

But…

“You’re the one who seduced me, Annelia.”

When did I!

I couldn’t stop Luden from pouncing on me and kissing me urgently.

I never seduced him, but he always insisted I went first.

He pulled me into his arms and exploded with the desire he’d been suppressing.

And so that day too… I spent a passionate time with Luden without contraception, trying to have a child.

* * *

Accepting Laysia and Reytan’s invitation, Luden and I went to the imperial palace. Reytan was at the Crown Prince’s palace, and he said he was inviting acquaintances for a meal before officially getting married. We were invited first among them.

The boxes containing the tea I’d chosen were shaking slightly. The box placed on the carriage floor was bigger than expected. 

As I packed this and that, the tea I wanted to give Laysia kept increasing. The effort I’d put into choosing felt too precious to waste, so when I packed everything, I had to put the tea bottles in a large box that came up to my knees.

I’d organized them so they wouldn’t bump into each other, so there was no chance the bottles would break, yet I found myself worrying and constantly paying attention.

“I keep worrying about the tea.”

Luden, who had been looking at documents, glanced at the tea leaves in glass bottles and chuckled.

“You could have prepared moderately.”

“I thought I was preparing moderately…”

I trailed off and sighed. I really had tried to fit it in a small box.

“I created work for myself.”

Who else could I blame?

“I don’t like that Annelia is paying attention to something other than me.”

Saying that, Luden put the documents in his bag and smoothly moved to sit beside me. I stared at him.

“Your husband is right here, but you’re paying more attention to those things.”

“That can happen.”

“What did you say to me before when I was looking at documents, Annelia?”

At Luden’s words, I became speechless. I’d done that because Luden had work piling up and I wanted to help! Though I did it partly because Luden seemed to like documents more than me!

This is different from that!

Despite my internal protests, Luden smiled and kissed my lips.

Luden was too good at kissing.

Thanks to his sudden advance, I didn’t think about the box for quite a while.

* * *

“Wait, this is all tea?”

Laysia’s eyes sparkled as she examined the tea in the box. After repeatedly asking me, she spotted the pink wrapping and pointed.

“This one is really hard to get…”

“I only have a few of these myself.”

“They say if you receive this as a gift, you’ll have a happy married life!”

“That’s what I heard.”

At Laysia’s words, Reytan showed curiosity. Reytan, who saw the tea wrapped in pink paper, also recognized what it was.

“It’s a limited edition, and you’re giving this to me, Annelia! Thank you.”

Reytan looked at the teas I’d brought with Laysia.

“You packed only teas Laysia likes.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, do you like it?”

“I like it even more because Annelia’s sincerity went into it.”

Nothing made me happier than having the gift recipient recognize the value of what I’d chosen. Laysia liked it so much her eyes reddened, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I prepared it with care.”

Laysia nodded, walked over to me, and hugged me tightly. I could smell her fragrance.

“My life changed thanks to Annelia.”

She spoke to me like making a confession.

“I could meet my partner too. How can I repay this kindness?”

Laysia’s voice trembled greatly. I held her hand tightly and said with a smile.

“Live well. That’s how you repay me.”

I hadn’t done it expecting anything. If my friend lived happily and well, that would be satisfying and rewarding. Knowing my words were sincere, Laysia smiled brightly.

“Yes!”

“Then shall we go to the dining room? The chef is working hard because you’re coming.”

Reytan smoothly took Laysia from my arms.

Why do I feel strange about this?

“My life’s rival is Annelia. Someday I’ll become someone with more influence on Laysia than Annelia.”

“Your Highness already has influence.”

Reytan shook his head completely.

“Absolutely not.”

He firmly denied it and held Laysia’s hand tightly, so Laysia soothingly stroked his cheek. Then Reytan glanced at her and chuckled.

“You have influence.”

At Laysia’s words, Reytan nodded, but his eyes looking at me were extremely sharp.

“I understand His Highness Reytan’s feelings.”

Even Luden came out like this, so I had no choice but to grumble.

“Is Luden on His Highness Reytan’s side?”

“Not exactly, but…”

He said that and gently patted my cheek.

“I also don’t like someone touching Annelia’s cheek.”

“No one touched it.”

“I’m giving an example. I’m saying I hate someone touching Annelia that much.”

I understood the meaning behind Luden’s meaningful words, so I just smiled.

He held my hand and walked to the dining room. Reytan and Laysia conveyed their thanks for telling them about the vendor, saying they chose their wedding dress well thanks to us. Luden and I felt proud.

After having a meal with Reytan, not long after, I received a letter from Kajiian.

It was an invitation to go to a summer resort with Luden. It said it was a special invitation with not many nobles participating.

Since we couldn’t refuse, Luden and I decided to accept Kajiian’s invitation.

* * *

Millen looked at the daily increasing profits and raised one corner of his mouth. Confidence leaked from the raised edge of his lips. Approaching Caromiel had failed, but on the contrary, business was flourishing.

To think his brother treated him like this. He simply couldn’t understand it. He’d repaid the money and said let’s get along, and that it would be nice to do business together, but his brother wouldn’t consider it at all.

Since childhood, his brother had always joined in whatever he wanted to do. When Millen remembered his parents making that brother the Duke, saying he was more suited to be Duke, Millen chuckled.

The person who had approached him asked if he didn’t want to become Duke. It was true that he wanted to become Duke. He wanted to take the position his incompetent brother had taken. 

If he became Duke instead of his brother, it seemed he could make the Rosaline ducal family even more prosperous.

“I’m more excellent…”

His brother had failed at business too. Things were going well now, but without the Charlot family’s help, he would have failed to stand on his own. If only Annelia hadn’t married into that family, it would have collapsed on its own.

So this matter had to succeed.

He planned to stake everything on this.

* * *

Ruesan was a resort bordering the beach. Many nobles came and went, and since the Charlot family also had a villa there, when the Emperor invited us to this place, I actually didn’t expect much. I just thought it would be similar to the Charlot family’s villa.

But when I saw the villa, I decided to change my mind.

The villa with a wide garden stretching across was extremely large. The round lights installed in the garden were glowing with magic stones. The sparkling appearance felt like looking at a modern Christmas tree.

At the time when the sun was setting, the garden sparkled like the night sky.

“It’s truly beautiful.”

I admired it and entered deeper into the garden with Luden. There were people I knew—Kajiian, Reytan, Laysia, Jerakun, and others.

“Welcome.”

Kajiian saw us and smiled. I held my skirt and bowed my head, showing him respect. He looked at me, approached, and asked curiously.

“Do you like the garden?”

“I’m amazed because it’s such a beautiful place.”

“I specially invited you.”

Anticipation appeared in his eyes. He seemed to care about what I would say. I smiled warmly and answered him.

“It’s an honor to come to such a place, Your Majesty. Thank you for inviting my husband and me.”

At my polite words, Kajiian nodded satisfactorily and turned his gaze to Luden.

“Does Marquis Charlot like it?”

“It’s the most beautiful garden I’ve seen recently. It’s an honor to spend time in such a place.”

Luden bowed his head and raised it.

Actually, Luden had told me this villa’s garden was beautiful and had a good reputation among those who’d visited. Seeing it directly, I understood why.

“These small lights are the work of dragons.”

Kajiian, who added the explanation that it was impossible to make lights that small with human technology, guided us.

A space appeared where we could sit at small tables and drink tea.

“We’ll have a meal and drink tea here. During the day, it’s hot because of the sunlight.”

“During the day, we’re going to the beach too, Father.”

Reytan subtly mentioned his intentions.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Kajiian nodded with a laugh at Reytan’s words.

* * *

The meal was steak, which I loved. After eating meat to my heart’s content, I walked through the garden with Laysia, drinking tea. The others were busy talking about policy and business with the Emperor, and I wanted to walk through the garden, so I left with Laysia.

“You seemed like you wanted to see the garden, Lady Annelia, so I quickly followed.”

I took a sip of the tea I’d brought and smiled.

“We decided to have the wedding in autumn.”

“Autumn is good. Summer is too hot.”

“Marriage—it really feels like a dream. I thought I’d live alone my whole life without giving my heart to anyone.”

Laysia looked at the sky with distant eyes. She seemed to be reminiscing about her life.

“I’ll be happy like Lady Annelia said. I’m happy now, but I’ll work hard to protect this happiness.”

“That’s a good thought.”

I patted her shoulder.

“Live well to show them.”

A smile formed on her lips.

I sincerely wished for her happiness.

The stars were twinkling.

Time passed and autumn approached.